Nottingham University Business School
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Dr Cher Li

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MSc (Leicester), Higher Education Academy Training Certificate (University of Glasgow), PhD (Glasgow), Harvard Business School Training Certificate (Imperial College London)
Associate Professor in Industrial Economics

Division: Industrial Economics
E-mail: Cher.Li@nottingham.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 115 8231397
Location: C35 (South Building, Jubilee Campus)

Since 2013 Cher has been an Associate Professor in Industrial Economics in the Division of Economics and Finance at NUBS. Prior to joining Nottingham, Cher worked at Imperial College Business School, University of Strathclyde and University of Glasgow. She is a Research Fellow in the Nottingham Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy (GEP, University of Nottingham), and also a Research Associate in the Centre for Business Research (CBR) at Cambridge Judge Business School. She has been a member of the Innovation Caucus since 2017 - a leading think tank funded by ESRC and Innovate UK to provide research insights to inform innovation policy and practice. As an economist by training, Cher's primary areas of research focus on innovation, intellectual property (IP), technology standards and productivity.

Over the past 15 years, her research projects have been funded by the ESRC, UK government departments (e.g., BEIS, UK Trade and Investment now the Dept for International Trade, Scottish Enterprise) and international organizations. Most recently, Cher is a Co-investigator on a £2m Transforming Productivity: Coordination and Evidence Hub (2020-2012, funded by ESRC) which translates academic insights on productivity into "what works" and designs interventions to address the UK's productivity challenge.

Cher has consulted widely across government offices, independent agencies and private businesses, and additionally served on the steering groups for several UK government\'s projects in innovation, IP, internationalisation and productivity. Her policy reports have contributed to the evidence base informing industrial policy by UK government; for instance, the BEIS Foresight initiative in 2014 on the Future of Manufacturing. In 2019, she won a prestigious BSI Standards Makers Awards for Education about Standardisation by British Standards Institution, in recognition of her teaching and research on standards, innovation and productivity issues.

Cher's primary areas of research focus on innovation, technology standards, intellectual property and firm performance such as productivity, and thus particularly welcomes PhD applications in these areas.

Current PhD Studentship available -
We have a fully funded ESRC PhD scholarship joint with Prof. Giuliana Battisti (Warwick Business School) and in collaboration with British Standards Institution (BSI Group), to study "Productivity Challenge: the Role of Technology Standards". More details on this project and application can be found on the Midlands Graduate School ESRC DTP website.


Areas of Expertise
Innovation; Intellectual Property; Technology Standards; Firm Performance esp. Productivity

Dr Cher Li has research interests in applied microeconomics and business economics, with a particular focus on issues around business innovation, intellectual property, technology standards, productivity etc. She has undertaken research on a number of projects funded by research councils and government departments, empirically evaluating the impact of technology adoption on performance, quantifying the contribution of exporting and R&D to the UK productivity growth, investigating the determinants and impact of firms' participation in developing technology standards, evaluating the effectiveness of innovation support programmes and industrial policies, and so on. Her recent research (joint with Dr Justus Baron and Dr Shukhrat Nasirov) studies the firm-level determinants of participating in standards organisations, paying special attention to the role of R&D investment, patents and product-market positions in developing open technology standards in ICT areas. Her working paper can be downloaded here - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfmAabstract_id=3287475

Cher's paper on the "Internationalisation of Professional Service Firms" (joint with Bruce Tether and Andrea Mina) was a finalist for the Schumpeter Best Paper Prize, EMAEE conference (European Meeting on Applied Evolutionary Economics) in Pisa, Italy, 2011. More recently, her paper entitled "Converting Technological Inventions into new products: the role of CEO general skills" (joint with Shukhrat Nasirov and Yasemin Kor) won the Best Paper Award at the Journal of Product Innovation Management (JPIM) Research Forum, Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) in Chicago, US, 2018.

Cher is currently supervising the following Research Students:

Gabriela Pizarro Veloso
Xin Deng
 

Older Publications



Older Publications

Journal Articles

Harris, R.; Li, Q. C; Moffat, J. (2013), "The Impact of Higher Education Institution-Firm Knowledge Links on Establishment-level Productivity in British Regions", The Manchester School, Vol.81 (2), pp. 143-162, doi: 10.111/j.1467-9957.2011.02276.x.

Harris, R.; Li, Q. C, (2012), "Export-market dynamics and firm-level productivity: Evidence for UK tradable sectors", Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol.21 (3), pp. 649-670.

Tether, B.; Li, Q. C; Mina, A. (2012), "Knowledge-bases, places, spatial configurations and the performance of knowledge-intensive professional service firms", Journal of Economic Geography, Vol.12 (5), pp. 969-1001.

Harris, R.; Li, Q. C, (2011), "The Determinants of Firm Exit from Exporting: Evidence for the UK", International Journal of the Economic of Business, Vol.18 (3), pp. 381-397.

Harris, R.; Li, Q. C, (2011), "Participation in Export Markets and the Role of R&D: Establishment-Level Evidence from the UK Community Innovation Survey 2005", Applied Economics, Vol.43 (23), pp. 3007-2020.

Harris, R.; Li, Q. C; Moffat, J. (2011), "The Impact of Higher Education Institution-Firm Knowledge Links on Firms-level Productivity in Britain", Applied Economics Letters, Vol.18 (13), pp. 1243-1246.

Comunian, A.; Faggian, A.; Li, Q. C, (2010), "Unrewarded Careers in the Creative Class: The Strange Case of Bohemian Graduates", Papers in Regional Science, Vol.89 (2), pp. 389-410.

Harris, R.; Li, Q. C, (2010), "Exporting and the Probability of Firm Closure: Evidence for the UK", Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Vol.57, pp. 145-168.

Faggian, A.; Li, C.; Wright, R. (2009), "Graduate Migration Flows in Scotland", Fraser of Allander Institute Economic Commentary, Vol.33 (1), pp. 35=42.

Harris, R.; Li, C. (2009), "Exporting, R&D and absorptive capacity in UK establishments", Oxford Economic Papers, Vol.61 (1), pp. 74-103.

Harris, R.; Li, C.; Trainor, M. (2009), "Is a higher rate of R&D tax credit a panacea for low levels of R&D in disadvantaged regions?", Research Policy, Vol.38 (1), pp. 192-205.

Harris, R.; Li, C. (2008), "Evaluating the Contribution of Exporting to UK Productivity Growth: Some Microeconomic Evidence", World Economy, Vol.31 (2), pp. 212-235.


Reports for external body

Li, Q. C; Tether, B. 2010, "Design Services Market: Insights from the Design Industry Survey 2009 and Design Use Survey 2008", in Report for Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2009, "Internationalisation Evidence Review.", in (report to Scottish Enterprise, 2009).

Li, C.; Tether, B. 2009, " Design Services Market - Insights from the Design Industry Survey 2009 and Design Use Survey 2008", in Report for Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2007, "Born Global? Companies: Evidence from FAME and CIS.", in report to UKTI (now Dept for International Trade), 2007.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2007, "Determinants of Exit from Exporting.", in report to UKTI (now Dept for International Trade), 2007.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2007, "Firm Level Empirical Study of the Contribution of Exporting to UK Productivity Growth.", in report to UKTI (now Dept for International Trade), 2007.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2006, "Review of the Literature: Causal Links between Innovation and International Trade and Investment.", in report to UKTI (now Dept for International Trade), 2006.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2006, "Establishment Level Empirical Study of Links between Exporting, Innovation and Productivity - CIS4", in report to UKTI (now Dept for International Trade), 2006.

Harris, R.; Li, C.; Trainor, M. 2006, " Assessing the Case for a Higher Rate of R&D Tax Credit in Northern Ireland (report to Economic.", in Economic Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Monographs - No. 10..

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2005, "Review of the Literature: The Role of International Trade and Investment in Business Growth and Development.", in report to UKTI (now Dept for International Trade), 2005.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2005, "Longitudinal Microdata Study of Business Support Programmes and Intermediary Organisations.", in Report to DTI, 2005).

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2005, "Establishment Level Empirical Study of Links between Exporting, Innovation and Productivity)", in report to UKTI (now Dept for International Trade), 2005.


Chapters in Books

Li, C.; Girma, S. (2008), "FDI and Labour Demand Adjustment to Factor Prices and Demand Shocks in the UK Manufacturing Industry", in Harrison, B (ed) Foreign Direct Investment. 4th Quarter, New York: Nova Science Publishers.


Conferences

Lausen, K.; Salter, A.; Li, Q. C, 2013, "Protection Myopia Managerial Views Towards Intellectual Property and the implications for Innovative Performance", at The DRUID Society Annual Conference, ESADE Business School, Barcelona.

Li, Q. C; Tether, B.; Mina, A.; Wennberg, K. 2011, "The Dynamics of Professional Services Internationalization", at 9th Annual International Industrial Organization Conference Northeastern Univ., Boston. USA.

Li, Q. C; Tether, B.; Mina, A.; Wennberg, K. 2011, "Internationalization amongst Professional Service Firms: A Study of UK Engineering Consultancies", at The DRUID Society Conference, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, June,.

Li, Q. C; Tether, B.; Mina, A.; Wennberg, K. 2011, "Drivers of international expansion amongst knowledge-intensive professional service firms: Insight from a longitudinal study of UK Engineering.Consultancies", at EMAEE (European Meeting on Applied Evolutionary Economics), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. Feburary, Shortlisted for the Schumpeter Best Paper Prize.

Li, Q. C; Tether, B.; Mina, A.; Wennberg, K. 2011, "The Dynamics of Professional Services Internationalization: A Longitudinal Study of UK Engineering Consultancies", at Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, San Antonio, USA.

Harris, R.; Li, Q. C; Moffat, J. 2010, "The Impact of Higher Education Institution-firm knowledge links on firm-level productivity in Britain", at Universities and their Regional Conference, Edinburgh, UK.

Li, Q. C, 2010, "UK-IRC and AIM workshop on Innovation and Practices in Professional Services", at Imperial College Business School, March.

Li, Q. C; Tether, B.; Mina, A.; Wennberg, K. 2010, "The International Expansion of Professional Service Firms: A Longitudinal Study of UK Engineering Consulting Firms", at International Workshop on the Role of Business Services for Innovation, Internationalisation and Growth, Univ of Rome La Sapienza, Italy.

Faggian, A.; Li, C.; Wright, R. 2009, "Graduate Migration Flows: Exporting Human Capital", at 7th Triple Helix Conference, Univ, of Strathclyde, Glasgow, June.

Faggian, A.; Li, C.; Wright, R. 2009, "Graduate Mirgration Flows: Exporting Human Capital", at Conference on Higher Education - Making a Difference to Economies and Communities, Belfast.

Faggian, A.; Li, C.; Wright, R. 2008, "The Retention of Graduate Human Capital: An Analysis of Graduate Migration Flows in and Out of Scotland", at Proceedings of the 48th Congress of the European Regional Science Association, Liverpool, UK.

Faggian, A.; Li, C.; Wright, R. 2008, "Regional Migration Flows in Scotland: Are Graduates the Leading Edge.", at Proceedings of the Scottish Economic Society Annual Conference, Perth, U.K.,.

Faggian, A.; Li, C.; Wright, R. 2008, "Regional Migration Flows in Scotland: Are Graduates the Leading Edge.", at XXII Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics, UCL, London,.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2008, "Learning-by-Exporting? Firm-Level Evidence for UK Manufacturing and Services Sectors.", at Scottish Graduate Programme in Economics Annual Conference, Dunblane, Scotland.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2008, "Learning-by-Exporting? Firm-Level Evidence for UK Manufacturing and Services Sectors.", at Proceedings of the International Conference on Policy Modeling, Berlin, Germany,.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2007, "Exporting, R&D and Absorptive Capacity in U.K. Establishments: Evidence from the 2001 Community Innovation Survey.", at Proceedings of the Royal Economic Society Conference 2007, Warwick, England, April,.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2007, "Export-Market Entry and the Role of R&D in Britain.", at Scottish Graduate Programme in Economics Annual Conference, Dunblane, Scotland.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2006, "Exporting, R&D and Absorptive Capacity in U.K. Establishments: Evidence from the 2001 Community Innovation Survey.", at Proceedings of the Scottish Economic Society Annual Conference, Perth, Scotland, 2006.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2006, "Exporting, R&D and Absorptive Capacity in U.K. Establishments.", at Proceedings of the International Conference on Policy Modeling, Hong Kong, China.

Li, C. 2006, "12th UK Stata Users Group meeting, London".

Harris, R.; Li, C.; Robinson, C. 2005, "The Productivity Impact of Skills in English Manufacturing, 2001: Evidence from Plant-Level Matched Data.", at Proceedings of the Comparative Analysis of Enterprise (Micro) Data (CAED) Conference 2005, Cardiff, U.K.


Discussion Papers

Faggian, A.; Li, C.; Wright, R. 2009, " Graduate Migration Flows: Importing and Exporting Human Capital.", Department of Economics Working Paper, Univ. of Strathclyde.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2007, "Learning-By-Exporting? Firm-Level Evidence for UK Manufacturing and Services Sectors.", Discussion Paper 2007-22, Dept. of Economics, Univ. of Glasgow,.

Harris, R.; Li, C. 2006, "Exporting, R&D and Absorptive Capacity in UK Establishments: Evidence from the 2001 Community Innovation Survey,", Paper 2006-19, Dept, of Economics, Univ, of Glasgow..

Harris, R.; Li, C.; Robinson, C. 2006, " The Productivity Impact of Skills in English Manufacturing, 2001: Evidence from Plant-Level Matched Data.", Paper 2006-16, Dept. of Economics,.

Li, C.; Girma, S. 2006, "Exporting, FDI, and Labour Demand Adjustment: Evidence from the UK Manufacturing.", Paper 2006-18, Dept. of Economics, Univ. of Glasgow..

Faggian, A.; Li, C.; Comunian, A. 0, "The 'Creativity' and Mobility of Graduate Human Capital in the UK: Evidence from the UK Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey.", School of Geography, Univ. of Southampton Working Paper..

Laursen, K.; Salter, A.; Li, C. 0, " Protection Myopia: Managerial Views Towards Intellectual Property and the Implications for Innovative Performance.", Imperial College Business School Discussion paper..


Recent Publications

Journal Articles

Demirel, P.; Li, Q.C.; Rentocchini, F.; Tamvada, J.P. (2019), "Born to Be Green: New Insights into the Economics and Management of Green Entrepreneurship", Small Business Economics, pp.759-771.

Faggian, A.; Comunian, A.; Li, Q. C, (2014), "Interregional Migration of human creative capital: the strange case of Bohemian Graduates", Geoforum, Vol.55, pp. 33-42.


Reports for external body

Li, Q. C.; Bascavusoglu-Moreau, E. 2014, "Knowledge Spillovers and Sources of Knowledge in the Manufacturing Sector: Literature Review and Empirical Evidence for the UK", in Click to view, Report to Govt Office for Science & Foresight.


Chapters in Books

Li, Q. C; Bascavusoglu-Moreau, E. (2014), "Knowledge Spillovers and Sources of Knowledge in the Manufacturing Sector: Literature Review and Empirical Evidence for the UK", in Hughes A (ed) The Future of UK Manufacturing: Scenario Analysis, Financial Markets and Industrial Policy, Cambridge: UK IRC.


Conferences

Baron, J; Li, Q C; Nasirov, S. 2019, "Why Do R&D-Intensive Firms Participate in Standards Organizations? The Role of Patents and Product-Market Position", in Click to view, SSRN Working Paper Series.

Baron, J.; Li, C.; Nasirov, S. 2018, "Firm-Level Determinants of Membership in Standards Organisations", in EU IPO, OECD IPSDM Annual Conference, forthcoming 2018.

Li, C.; Nasirov, S.; Kors, Y. 2018, "Converting Technological Inventions to New Products: the Role of Generalist CEOs", in ESMT, Berlin, European Policy in IP (EPIP) Annual Conference, forthcoming 2018.

Li, C.; Nasirov, S.; Y, Kors, 2018, "Converting technological inventions into new products: The role of CEO general skills", in Winner of the Best Paper Award, J of Product Innovation Management (JPIM) Forum.

Li, C.; Nasirov, S. 2017, "Managerial Aspects of Differentiation Strategy: Evidence From the Analysis of Trademark Statistics", in Milan, Strategic Management Society (SMS) Conference, forthcoming 2017.

Li, C.; Windrm, P. 2017, "The Impact of Standards on Product Innovation: A Longitudinal Study of UK Service and Manufacturing Firms", in NYU Stern School of Business, DRUID Society Annual Conference, forthcoming 2017.

Nasirov, S.; Li, C.; Thompson, S. 2017, "Managerial Aspects of Differentiation Strategy: Evidence From the Analysis of Trademark Statistics", in Strategic Management Society (SMS) Conference, Milan.

Li, Q. C. 2016, "The Standards and Innovation Nexus", in UK Innovation Survey Users Group Launch, Dept. for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), UK.

Nasirov, S.; Li, C.; Thompson, S. 2016, "Managerial Aspects of Differentiation Strategy: Evidence from the Analysis of Trademark Statistics", in European Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP) Annual Conference, Oxford University.
 

 

Nottingham University Business School

Jubilee Campus
Nottingham
NG8 1BB

telephone: +44 (0) 115 846 6602
email: business-enquiries@nottingham.ac.uk